Offense Needs Four Big Plays

Quarterback Chris Turner and teammates have talked about trying to get four big plays each game, which generally should be enough to win. But the main challenge this week remains focus and maturity, buzzwords that everyone will hear over and over again until Saturday afternoon. I asked Turner if players were treating Eastern Michigan as if it were an undefeated and nationally ranked team.

“That’s the idea,” Turner said. “It hurt so much more after beating Cal and knowing we lost to Middle Tennessee. We don’t want to go through that again. We want to murder Eastern Michigan. That’s the idea.

Uh, not literally, right, Chris?

“No, not literally,” said Turner, slapping me on my shoulder.

“We want to have an impressive win,” Turner added. “They are on par with Middle Tennessee in a lot of ways. They are probably a little better up front. They might not have the same athletes in the secondary. We just want to seize the momentum we had on Saturday.”

Turner talked about the importance of managing the game and sustaining drives. With stars around him like Da’Rel Scott and Darrius Heyward-Bey, Turner simply has to get his playmakers the ball. Ralph Friedgen said Tuesday that Chris Turner missed two throws against Cal, but that’s it.

And Turner has already seen a sharpened focus overall in this week’s practice compared to the week of the Middle Tennessee game.

“Yeah, I think we have learned from Middle Tennessee," Turner said. "We are pretty up after Saturday’s game. The combination of both and you can definitely see a difference.”